This week, for our Lenten tradition of giving up hidden beliefs that aren't serving us, we're finding language for our numbness in the book of Ecclesiastes, and finding help for our weary, modern "selves" in the stories of Jesus' healings.

Ecclesiastes, JohnVincent BrackettMarch 25, 2025Lent 2025Comment

Give up the “Just World” Theory for Lent

For our BLC Lenten tradition, join us in giving up hidden beliefs we hold (religious and secular) that aren't serving us. This week: how the Hebrew Bible's Ecclesiastes captures our modern feelings of meaninglessness when we unconsciously believe everyone gets what they deserve.

Ecclesiastes, Matthew, LukeVincent BrackettMarch 18, 2025Lent 2025Comment

Ash Wednesday Devotion

The modern world doesn't stop for a random Wednesday in the Church Calendar. If you're on the go, let us help you mark Ash Wednesday with this guided prayer.

Vincent BrackettMarch 5, 2025Comment

Good Doubt / Better Theology (wk 4: Spirit & Flesh)

Hayley and Vince re-load a Bible study on the oft-misused references to spirit and flesh in the New Testament, as they continue modeling the use of two strategies for cultivating life-giving faith in the face of modern confusion, injustice, and burnout.

1 Corinthians, Romans, MatthewVincent BrackettMarch 4, 2025Good Doubt-Better TheologyComment

Good Doubt / Better Theology (wk 2: Jesus died for your sins)

Hayley and Vince talk more about the two "untangling" strategies people in BLC tend to find helpful for cultivating life-giving faith in the face of modern confusion, injustice, and burnout. This week's Bible study to see our strategies in action: New Testament passages about Jesus dying for our sins.

1 John, 1 Peter, RomansVincent BrackettFebruary 18, 2025Good Doubt-Better TheologyComment

Good Doubt / Better Theology (wk 1: Household Codes)

There are multiple good strategies for cultivating life-giving faith in the face of confusion, injustice, and the demands of modern life. Hayley and Vince describe two strategies they tend to hear people in BLC share about.

1 Timothy, Colossians, Ephesians, 2 CorinthiansVincent BrackettFebruary 11, 2025Good Doubt-Better TheologyComment

Community Organizing

Bringing to a close our focus on "Neighboring" (loving our neighbors as ourselves), Vince interviews his old friend Hannah, a community organizer with Chicago's ONE Northside.

Matthew, GenesisVincent BrackettFebruary 4, 2025Neighboring 2025Comment

Beloved Community

On the weekend we remember Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the US, we look to be inspired by perhaps his most enduring contribution to theology: "the Beloved Community".

ExodusVincent BrackettJanuary 22, 2025Neighboring 2025Comment

Responsibility For vs. Responsibility To

To neighbor well (to love one's neighbor as yourself) requires a mature handling of personal responsibility, rather than hard and fast rules. Hayley and Vince share from their experiences and from the Christian tradition along these lines. (Photo: Derick Mckinney on Unsplash)

Ecclesiastes, Luke, PsalmsVincent BrackettJanuary 14, 2025Neighboring 2025Comment

How do I know when to help and when not to?

To be alive today is to be in a continual state of having your conscience pricked, for worthy reasons! Vince shares how prayer has helped him wisely and compassionately navigate that reality.

JohnVincent BrackettJanuary 7, 2025Neighboring 2025Comment